Tag: WrestleMania 40

Snickers & WWE 2K returning as WrestleMania 40 sponsors

Posted on by Joseph Currier

For the third straight year, Snickers and WWE 2K will be the sponsors of WrestleMania.

WWE, Mars, and Take-Two Interactive issued a press release on Thursday announcing that Snickers and WWE 2K will be the presenting sponsors of WrestleMania 40. They were also the sponsors of WrestleMania 38 in 2022 and WrestleMania 39 in 2023.

This is the ninth consecutive year that Snickers has been a WrestleMania sponsor.

The press release said:

Both brands will be showcased during WWE’s flagship TV programs Monday Night Raw on USA Network and Friday Night SmackDown on FOX leading up to WrestleMania, as well as during the WrestleMania Kickoff Show and WrestleMania each day on Peacock. The partnership also includes custom digital and social content on WWE.com and WWE’s YouTube channel, which is the No. 1 most-viewed sports channel in the world. 

Quotes from Mars, 2K, and TKO Group executives were included in the press release:

‘SNICKERS is proud to return to WrestleMania, bringing a satisfying solution to WWE fans around the world,’ said Martin Terwilliger, Marketing Vice President, Mars Wrigley. ‘We look forward to showing up for the passionate fanbase with WWE 2K24 as presenting partners for WrestleMania XL, bringing fans what is sure to be one of the most exciting sporting events of 2024.’

‘While fans can relive forty years of WrestleMania in WWE 2K24, we’ll once again tag-team with SNICKERS to co-present WrestleMania XL,’ said Dennis Ceccarelli, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Sports at 2K. ‘We’ll be cheering on our cover Superstars: Rallying Cody Rhodes to ‘Finish the Story,’ rooting for Rhea Ripley to defend her title, and looking forward to Bianca Belair putting on the ‘EST’ WrestleMania performance of all.’

‘WrestleMania XL is shaping up to be the biggest event in WWE history and we are excited to take our partnership with 2K and Snickers to new heights as the brands unite for a third consecutive year,’ said Grant Norris-Jones, EVP & Head of Global Partnerships, TKO.

The official release date for WWE 2K24 is Friday, March 8. Early access starts on Tuesday, March 5 for the Deluxe and Forty Years of WrestleMania editions of the game.

WrestleMania 40 is taking place from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7. The following matches have already been made official:

  • Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Cody Rhodes
  • WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY defends against Bayley
  • Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Becky Lynch
  • World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Drew McIntyre

Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre title match official for WWE WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Drew McIntyre is set for a WrestleMania clash against Seth Rollins.

Rollins defending his World Heavyweight Championship against McIntyre is now official for WrestleMania 40. The two-night event is being held in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7.

The title match was confirmed when McIntyre won the men’s Elimination Chamber match in Perth, Australia on Saturday. McIntyre, Randy Orton, Logan Paul, Kevin Owens, LA Knight, and Bobby Lashley were the six competitors in the match.

Knight and McIntyre started the match as the first two entrants. At the end, McIntyre and Orton were the final two left. Orton appeared to have the match won after giving McIntyre an RKO, but Paul laid out Orton with a brass knuckles shot and McIntyre pinned Orton to get the win. Paul was angry after being eliminated by Orton.

McIntyre eliminated Orton, Knight, and Lashley from the match. Orton eliminated Paul and Owens.

Knight’s elimination came after interference by AJ Styles.

Rollins vs. CM Punk was WWE’s original direction for WrestleMania 40, but those plans had to change after Punk suffered a torn triceps.

Rollins made an appearance at Elimination Chamber during a Grayson Waller Effect segment. Rollins announced that he’s “just days away” from being cleared to return to the ring. He’s been out of action since suffering a torn MCL and partially torn meniscus while facing Jinder Mahal on Raw last month.

Four title matches have now been confirmed for WrestleMania 40: 

  • Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Cody Rhodes
  • WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY defends against Bayley
  • Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Becky Lynch
  • World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Drew McIntyre

Becky Lynch to challenge for Women’s World title at WWE WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Becky Lynch has secured a WrestleMania 40 title shot.

Lynch will challenge Rhea Ripley for the Women’s World Championship at WrestleMania 40. Lynch earned the title shot by winning the women’s Elimination Chamber match at Saturday’s event in Perth, Australia. In the main event of Elimination Chamber, Ripley retained her Women’s World Championship against Nia Jax.

This was the first Elimination Chamber match that Lynch has ever competed in. She started the match against Naomi. They were followed by Tiffany Stratton, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, and Bianca Belair.

It came down to Lynch, Morgan, and Belair at the end. Morgan eliminated Belair but was then pinned after being given a Manhandle Slam by Lynch.

Stratton eliminated Naomi from the match first, Morgan eliminated Stratton second, and Belair eliminated Rodriguez third.

Lynch hasn’t held a singles title on the WWE main roster since losing the Raw Women’s Championship to Belair at WrestleMania 38 in 2022. Lynch did have a reign as NXT Women’s Champion last year.

WrestleMania 40 is being held in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7. The following matches have been made official for the event so far:

  • Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Cody Rhodes
  • WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY defends against Bayley
  • Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Becky Lynch
  • World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Drew McIntyre

Update on potential Sylvester Stallone WWE WrestleMania collaboration

Posted on by Joseph Currier

In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer gave an update on Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone potentially being involved with WrestleMania 40.

WrestleVotes reported on Thursday that, with WrestleMania 40 taking place from Philadelphia, WWE was hoping to collaborate with Stallone for the event in some form. WrestleVotes noted that whether or not the collaboration is ultimately going to end up happening is to be determined.

Stallone played the iconic character Rocky Balboa (who is from Philly) in the “Rocky” series of movies.

Meltzer confirmed WWE’s interest in working with Stallone for WrestleMania. But, as of right now, there’s a scheduling conflict that would need to be resolved if Stallone is going to appear:

Wrestlevotes reported that WWE was talking to Sylvester Stallone about [being involved with] WrestleMania this year, since the character of Rocky Balboa was based in Philadelphia. Those at WWE have confirmed the talk but said that as of earlier in the week Stallone had said there was a schedule conflict so the deal hasn’t been done unless you can or wants to remove the conflict.

Stallone appeared at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in 2005 and inducted Hulk Hogan into the HOF. The two worked together on “Rocky III,” where Hogan played the character Thunderlips.

Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field is hosting WrestleMania 40 on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7.

Report: WWE interested in collaborating with Sylvester Stallone for WrestleMania

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With WrestleMania 40 taking place in Philadelphia, WWE is interested in collaborating with the city’s most iconic (fictional) sports star.

WrestleVotes reports that WWE is hoping to collaborate with Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone for WrestleMania in some form, though whether or not it will end up happening is to be determined. Stallone is from New York but played the iconic character Rocky Balboa in the “Rocky” movie franchise. Balboa is from Philadelphia in the movies, and a Balboa statue is one of Philly’s most popular landmarks.

WrestleVotes wrote:

Sources within WWE indicate there is interest in collaborating with Sylvester Stallone for WrestleMania in some form. While any communication status is unclear, I’m told there’s hope for it. Whether it ultimately ends up happening or not is to be determined. Stallone, born in NYC, gained fame through the iconic Rocky films, deeply associated with Philadelphia.

Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men podcast added:

Can confirm I had heard that convos were happening about getting Stallone but no idea how far along this is.

In 2005, Stallone inducted Hulk Hogan into the WWE Hall of Fame. Hogan played the character Thunderlips in “Rocky III.”

Stallone received Oscar nominations for acting in the original 1976 “Rocky” film and for writing its screenplay. He also received a supporting actor nomination for the 2015 spinoff “Creed.”

WrestleMania 40 is taking place from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7. It will be headlined by Cody Rhodes challenging Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

Wrestling Observer Live: Paul Roma on Vince McMahon notes, AEW attendance issues, RAW

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including the latest on the Vince McMahon scandal, Paul Roma’s memories from the 80s and 90s, AEW TV taping business and how to try to increase attendance, RAW notes, WrestleMania and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Seth Rollins to face Elimination Chamber winner at WWE WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Ethan Renner

WWE has officially announced how Seth Rollins’ opponent in the World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 40 will be decided. 

In a segment kicking off Friday’s SmackDown, Raw GM Adam Pearce and SmackDown GM Nick Aldis appeared alongside Paul “Triple H” Levesque and revealed that a men’s Elimination Chamber match will take place at the February 24 Elimination Chamber even in Australia, with the winner going on to challenge Rollins for the World Heavyweight title at WrestleMania 40 set for April 6 & April 7. 

12 wrestlers were announced for six qualifying matches to be held on WWE programming between now and Elimination Chamber, with the first two set for Friday’s Smackdown. 

The 12 wrestlers —

  • Randy Orton
  • Bronson Reed
  • Kevin Owens
  • Logan Paul
  • AJ Styles
  • The Miz
  • Bobby Lashley
  • Ivar
  • Drew McIntyre
  • Sami Zayn
  • Dominik Mysterio
  • LA Knight

The first two matches held on the Friday, February 9 SmackDown —

  • Drew McIntyre vs. AJ Styles
  • Randy Orton vs. Sami Zayn

The four remaining qualifying matches have yet to be announced.

After weeks of a feud being teased between Pearce & Aldis, they said that management was presenting a united front in making this announcement, as the dueling authority figures feud appears to have been shifted to The Rock vs. Triple H. 

Triple H began SmackDown by stating that he wanted to make clear that coming out of Thursday’s WrestleMania Kickoff event featuring The Rock & Roman Reigns that some people don’t “know their role” and that it doesn’t matter where “you sit at the table,” that the power comes from one place — Triple H. 

Fight Game: Is the WWE WrestleMania 40 main event now finalized?

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

John LaRocca and I are back with another episode of The Fight Game Podcast.

We kicked off the show discussing Thursday’s WWE WrestleMania kickoff media event with a big angle concerning The Rock, Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, and Seth Rollins. How did WWE get here and what should the focus be on the road to WrestleMania?

We then got to the rest of our Top 5 which included:

  • The hot angle at the end of AEW Dynamite with the Young Bucks, Darby Allin, Sting and his sons
  • Issues with the overall presentation of Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page
  • Bad referee corner
  • How Carmelo Hayes explained his turn on Trick Williams on NXT

Click Here to Listen (sub needed)

February 12, 2024 Observer Newsletter: More on Vince McMahon allegations, WrestleMania 40 main event

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The past week saw Vince McMahon have John Laurinaitis evidently flip on him and another round of media coverage regarding a federal investigation into his behavior and stories regarding the late Ashley Massaro’s claim to have been raped and told to cover it up by the company brought back to life with new information uncovered.

A story in the Hollywood Reporter said that on 1/26, the day after the Janel Grant lawsuit was filed and after Slim Jim had pulled out as sponsor for the Royal Rumble the next day, TKO CEO Ari Emanuel and TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro called up McMahon and told him it would be in the best interest of the company for him to leave. McMahon did not fight the directive and wrote his letter of resignation, and WWE President Nick Khan publicly released the information.

The story said that as soon as the lawsuit story broke, TKO executives reached out to Netflix, NBCU, ESPN, and the CW. The story said that finalizing the Netflix deal when it happened was fortuitous because had the news of the lawsuit been out, Netflix could have backed out.

Subscribers can click here to read this week’s issue.

Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes set for WWE WrestleMania 40 main event

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes will officially headline WWE WrestleMania 40. 

WWE’s WrestleMania Kickoff media event in Las Vegas on Thursday night raised more questions than it answered as it appeared to retcon what happened on last Friday’s SmackDown and presented many possible matches going forward. 

What we do know is this —

WWE announced Thursday following their Kickoff media event in Las Vegas that Reigns vs. Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship will main event WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia set for Saturday, April 6 & Sunday, April 7. 

The main event announcement was made by WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque in a social media post on X after the Kickoff event had concluded. 

Rhodes was presented as “making his decision” for the first time at the Kickoff event, a continuity shift from last Friday’s SmackDown where Rhodes stated that he was not coming for Reigns at WrestleMania, and the show closed with a Roman Reigns & The Rock face-off.

At the WrestleMania Kickoff event, Roman Reigns announced that he was choosing to face The Rock at WrestleMania after Cody had hesitated and lost his right to choose which title he would challenge for at Mania as Royal Rumble winner. 

The Rock then entered and showed a Samoan wrestling family tree on screen, stating that the main event between himself and Reigns would be the biggest ever, and that while you may not like it, you have to accept it. 

Rhodes then interrupted, said that the proceedings between Reigns & Rock were “bullsh*t,” and announced that he had made his WrestleMania decision and would be choosing to face Reigns. An angle followed where Rhodes said that The Rock and Reigns’ grandfathers would be ashamed of them, leading to The Rock slapping Rhodes. 

A pull-apart ensued involving Rock, Reigns, Rhodes, and Seth Rollins, who was onstage as an afterthought in all of this as World Heavyweight Champion as the storyline between Rhodes, Rock, and Reigns unfolded. 

In a backstage segment near the conclusion of the show, Triple H was doing an interview when The Rock approached and told him to “fix” the situation with Rhodes, as Rock walked in lockstep with Reigns. A Rhodes & Rollins vs. Rock & Reigns tag match would be the logical conclusion to come to after that angle, but whether the match happens on night one of WrestleMania, or perhaps at Elimination Chamber in Australia later this month, remains to be seen.

The WrestleMania Kickoff event also featured a face-to-face between Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley & Becky Lynch, as well as a promo from Bianca Belair. 

A replay of the event is embedded below.

CM Punk, Big E to host WWE WrestleMania 40 media event

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Though he’s out of action due to injury, CM Punk will still be in Las Vegas for tonight’s WrestleMania 40 media event.

WWE has announced that Punk will be one of the hosts of the WrestleMania 40 kickoff press event tonight (February 8). Punk, Big E, Michael Cole, and Pat McAfee are hosting. The event is taking place from T-Mobile Arena and is open to the public. It streams live on WWE’s social media channels and Peacock starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time. 

We’ll find out the main event for WrestleMania 40 at the media event. Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, The Rock, and Cody Rhodes are all set to appear. There’s been significant fan backlash since Rhodes seemingly gave up his WrestleMania main event spot against Reigns to The Rock on SmackDown last Friday.

On social media today, Rhodes teased that he’s officially made a decision regarding what he’s going to do at WrestleMania:

Punk was supposed to challenge World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40, but that is no longer possible due to Punk’s torn triceps. Punk is expected to be out for several months due to the injury. He tore his triceps during the Royal Rumble. It was Punk’s first televised WWE match since 2014.

Punk underwent triceps surgery last Thursday.

Big E hasn’t wrestled since suffering a broken neck in March 2022. He recently told Denise Salcedo that he wants to make a “smart decision” over whether he ever returns to the ring:

So when I think about the damage I have done to my body over the years, I just want to be smart, because this is the one body I get and I have to carry it throughout my 40s, 50s hopefully and beyond. So that’s the goal. I just want to make a smart decision and I am just so grateful to feel so good, to have no restrictions and I want to be smart with whatever decision I make.

WrestleMania 40 is being held in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7.

The Rock & Roman Reigns face-off set for WWE WrestleMania 40 media event

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Next Thursday (February 8), WWE is holding a WrestleMania 40 Kickoff event in Las Vegas.

The media event was announced following The Rock and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns’ confrontation on Friday night’s episode of SmackDown. The confrontation set the stage for Reigns vs. The Rock to headline WrestleMania 40.

WWE has confirmed that The Rock and Reigns will face off for another confrontation at the media event. We’ll hear from Rock, Reigns, and Paul “Triple H” Levesque.

“Fans and media will hear from both The Rock and Roman Reigns, as well as WWE Chief Content Officer Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque,” WWE wrote. “Onsite interview opportunities for media will immediately follow the event with both participants, Cody Rhodes, Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins, Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley.”

The media event is being held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is open to the public at no charge. It begins at 7 p.m. Eastern time/4 p.m. Pacific and will stream live on Peacock as well as WWE’s social media channels.

Michael Cole and Pat McAfee are hosting the media event.

WrestleMania 40 is taking place from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7. IYO SKY vs. Bayley for the WWE Women’s Championship is the first match that’s been made official for the show.

The Rock vs. Roman Reigns to headline WWE WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Roman Reigns vs. The Rock will headline WWE WrestleMania 40. 

The Rock made a surprise appearance on Friday’s SmackDown episode in a segment where Cody Rhodes announced that he was coming for Reigns, but not at WrestleMania 40. 

Reigns & The Rock went face-to-face to close the show, with WWE.com running the headline: 

The Rock challenged Roman Reigns to a WrestleMania match as Cody Rhodes shunned The Tribal Chief!

WWE announced Friday that the 2024 Royal Rumble winner Rhodes would choose his WrestleMania opponent on SmackDown. Rhodes cut a promo questioning what “finishing his story” would look like, ultimately stating that finishing his story would entail taking everything from Reigns, not just the WWE Universal Championship. 

Rhodes said that he had consulted with friends, family, and legends in making his choice, and had in fact consulted with someone Reigns knows well. The Rock then entered and shook hands with Rhodes and had a short conversation with him before Rhodes left the ring to Reigns and The Rock. 

The Rock and Reigns facing off with Reigns holding the Universal title high closed SmackDown. 

WWE also announced a WrestleMania 40 kickoff press event in Las Vegas for Thursday, February 8 to stream live on Peacock at 7 p.m. Eastern time where Reigns vs. The Rock will likely be made official. 

Rhodes now looks to be in line to challenge Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 40, a match teased on this past Monday’s Raw. Rollins vs. CM Punk and Reigns vs. Rhodes had appeared to be the WrestleMania title programs, but Punk suffered a torn triceps at Royal Rumble, potentially leading to a pivot from WWE to Rock vs. Reigns and Rhodes vs. Rollins.

IYO SKY vs. Bayley official for WWE WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Joseph Currier

IYO SKY vs. Bayley is the first match official for WWE WrestleMania 40.

After winning the women’s Royal Rumble match, Bayley made her WrestleMania decision on SmackDown tonight. Damage CTRL split apart with Bayley separating from the group and announcing that she’ll be challenging SKY for the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania.

Bayley was in the ring with SKY, Kairi Sane, and Asuka when she revealed her decision. Bayley told them that she’s not oblivious. She knows that they’ve been talking about her behind her back.

“You guys talk about me constantly. Why? All I wanted was for Damage CTRL to be the best,” Bayley said. “All I wanted was to take this to the top to WrestleMania. And I wanted to do that together. But you guys see nothing in me, do you? Huh? IYO, what happened? When you, me, and Dakota [Kai] started this, we were like this. Ever since they came around, you turned your back on me. What happened?”

SKY, Sane, and Asuka then attacked Bayley, but she was able to grab a metal pipe and fight them off. Bayley officially declared that she’ll be challenging SKY at WrestleMania.

Before Bayley announced her decision, there was a backstage segment where she overheard SKY, Sane, and Asuka talking about her.

Dakota Kai, who didn’t appear on SmackDown tonight, posted a tweet responding to the Damage CTRL split:

This will be Bayley’s first time competing in a one-on-one title match at WrestleMania. She won the women’s Royal Rumble last Saturday after entering the match at number three. She was in the match for 63 minutes and 3 seconds, which set a new women’s Rumble record.

WrestleMania 40 is being held at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7.

WWE changing start time for WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Update —

Our Dave Meltzer has confirmed that both nights of WrestleMania 40 will start at 7 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

It looks like WrestleMania will have an earlier start time this year than it had in 2023.

WrestleVotes reported on Friday that WWE has decided that 7 p.m. Eastern will be the start time for both nights of WrestleMania 40. Each night will also have a pre-show leading into the event.

“Source states WWE has made the decision to change the WrestleMania start time,” WrestleVotes wrote. “The main card will now begin at 7pm EST, presumably with a kickoff show starting at 5pm EST. This will be for both nights of WrestleMania.”

The start time for WrestleMania 39 last year was 8 p.m. Eastern. That’s the regular start time for WWE premium live events.

WrestleMania 40 is taking place from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7. The show will stream live on Peacock/WWE Network.

No matches have been confirmed for WrestleMania yet, but we know that Royal Rumble winners Cody Rhodes and Bayley will be getting title shots at the event.

Both Rhodes and Bayley are set to appear on SmackDown tonight. WWE is advertising that Bayley will reveal whether she’s challenging Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley or WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY at WrestleMania.